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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. track — to keep track
  3. prune — to trim
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. track — a path
  6. court — of a king
  7. track — a song
  8. snap — to click
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. court — of law
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. kick — in football
  16. hand — in cards
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. court — for sport
  21. prune — to trim
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — in music
  24. hand — help

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com